Trumping the Uber-Sport Assemblage

Abstract

This chapter illustrates how the uber-sport assemblage is complexly interrelated with both the neoliberal and Trump assemblages, and so contributes to the instantiation of Trumpism. The Trump/Trumpism assemblages are examined as expressions of a conjunctural authoritarian populism, followed by an elaboration of uber-sport’s articulation to the conspicuously neoliberal elements of Trumpism, specifically those related to meritocracy, competitive individualism, and post-racial politics. This leads to an overview of the Trump assemblage’s divisive racial and national politicizing of uber-sport, as manifest in criticism of, and outrage directed toward, aspects of the uber-sport assemblage, specifically athlete activists such as Colin Kaepernick and LeBron James. The chapter concludes with resistive and corroborative responses to Trumpism’s politicization of uber-sport exhibited within the traditional media, social media, and related organizations.

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